Dana-Farber researchers recently received $6.5 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to support research on a universal vaccine for human influenza A viruses.
Ellis Reinherz, the study’s principal investigator, will collaborate with DFCI colleagues Vladimir Brusic, Bruce Reinhold, Jonathan Duke-Cohan, Derin Keskin and Guanglan Zhang on the new project.
The grant is part of NIAID’s new nationwide research initiative to elucidate the human immune system’s response to infection or vaccination. Dana-Farber is one of six Human Immune Phenotyping Centers that collectively will receive $100 million over five years as part of the new program. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will provide support for the first year.
“This grant will enable us to investigate a new approach in an effort to develop a T cell–based vaccine against human influenza A viruses,” said Reinherz, HMS professor of Medicine and faculty director of the Cancer Vaccine Center at Dana-Farber.
